Welcome new year with new RH law, urges Amnesty International

The Philippines would be welcoming the new year with a new reproductive health (RH) law that is beneficial to women and families, if a human rights group had its way.

Amnesty International-Philippines said that Congress should pass the RH bill as it could help prevent mistimed and unwanted pregnancies and give women safe pregnancies and child birth.

Aurora Parong, AI-Philippines director, appealed to members of Congress not to let 2011 end without the measure being passed, stressing that not one more mother should have to suffer an otherwise preventable death.

It could also help improve a couple’s enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights and enhance personal and family relationships, she said.

The RH bill, which has met staunch opposition from the local Catholic Church, is being hotly debated in both houses of Congress. So far, there has been no indication of when it would be put to a vote.

“Ten years of waiting for the enactment of a reproductive health law is too long. Our lawmakers must get their act together to enact the law before the year ends,” said Parong in a statement.

She said preventable maternal deaths were among the biggest problems affecting women in the Philippines and most developing countries.

In the Philippines, 14 percent of deaths of females aged 15 to 49 are maternal deaths, and the maternal mortality ratio is 94 per 100,000 live births, Parong said.

1.5-M unintended pregnancies

Unintended pregnancies, on the other hand, totaled 1.5 million, she said.

She noted that the number of women who died in childbirth throughout the world was 358,000 a year, and some of them were victims of rape and sexual violence.

“Governments have the obligation to give more attention to preventing the untimely deaths of women and girls caused by complications of childbirth,” she said.

Parong lamented that the government’s current sexual and reproductive health policies prevented women from having control over whether they want to get pregnant or not. This denies them the enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive rights, she said.

“Women living in poverty are the most affected by these policies which fail to support them in preventing mistimed, unintended or unwanted pregnancies; which drive them further into poverty; and which harm their health and well-being,” she said.

Parong said that women should enjoy their right to accessible and acceptable quality information, goods and services on sexual and reproductive rights.

AI-Philippines held a seven-city cycling event on Sunday to underscore its call for the prevention of maternal deaths, and its support for the reproductive health bill.

The RH bill would require the government to promote all methods of family planning that are considered safe. It recognizes abortion as illegal, but it also requires the government to provide care for women suffering post-abortion complications.

Originally posted: 3:51 pm | Monday, December 5th, 2011